Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have both cancelled fundraising events with donors amid heightened sensitivity about political campaigning in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
On Monday afternoon, the prime minister’s office confirmed Anthony Albanese had cancelled his appearance at an “intimate” and “exclusive” dinner capped at just 10 donors in Sydney this Wednesday. The dinner was billed as a “special opportunity” for targeted donors to connect with Albanese in a “private setting”.
At a similar time, the Liberals’ fundraising vehicle, the Australian Business Network, apologised to members and said an “evening briefing” on Tuesday night would be postponed. Sources have told Guardian Australia the event featured Peter Dutton and was due to be held in Melbourne.
It is not clear whether Albanese’s private dinner has been rescheduled.
Earlier on Monday, Dutton addressed Labor claims he “sold out his constituents” by leaving his south-east Queensland electorate of Dickson last week to attend a political fundraiser at the harbourside home of hospitality entrepreneur Justin Hemmes.
Dutton also attended a separate event at the home of a Greek Orthodox bishop before returning to Queensland.
When the trip to Sydney was first reported by the Australian Financial Review, Labor senator Murray Watt said: “We now know how much Peter Dutton raised for the Liberals’ money bags, while his community was packing sandbags.
“Dutton sold out his constituents for $500,000 at Justin Hemmes’ Sydney harbourside mansion.”
Dutton has accused Labor of seeking a political advantage in the midst of a natural disaster and defended his trip to Sydney.
“I flew home on the first flight on Wednesday morning back into my electorate and the [cyclone] obviously hadn’t started by then, didn’t start until Friday,” Dutton said.
“I think people who are using that for political advantage in the time of a natural disaster, frankly, that’s a poorer reflection on them than it is on me.”
Dutton said the Hemmes event “wasn’t a party, it was a fundraising dinner. The prime minister and I are doing them around the country at the moment.”
Guardian Australia reported on Thursday the last-minute cancellation of other fundraising events in Melbourne that Dutton was due to attend last week, including at the headquarters of Macquarie Bank on Wednesday and a lunch hosted by the Pharmacy Guild on Thursday.
Albanese rejected Dutton’s claims in his own press conference on Monday, saying he had engaged across party lines in the government’s cyclone response all week. Albanese said he had invited Nationals MP Kevin Hogan to join him at the press conference in Lismore.
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“I’ve been getting on with doing this job … giving support to people in a totally non-political way, and I think it’s disappointing if there’s any suggestion otherwise,” he said.
“There are no politics involved here and there’s no border. I’ve worked seamlessly with [Queensland Liberal] premier [David] Crisafulli and [NSW Labor] premier [Chris] Minns. It’s up to Peter Dutton how he behaves and what discourse he involves himself with.”
Appearing to reference Dutton’s several days out of the media spotlight, Albanese said: “I haven’t seen those comments from Mr Dutton, I haven’t seen any comments from Mr Dutton for a while.”
Invites to the Melbourne event cancelled by Dutton last week show it was to be held on level 36 of a tower on Collins Street and hosted by Charlie Taylor, the Liberal party federal treasurer, and Nicole Andrews, the executive director of the Australian Business Network.
Invites seen by Guardian Australia show Liberal MPs Zoe McKenzie, Aaron Violi and Keith Wolahan were also expected to attend the 5-7pm event.
With an expensive election campaign looming, business leaders across Australia have been deluged with invitations to similar events.
Invitations seen by Guardian Australia show the prime minister, senior cabinet ministers and Coalition figures have all rubbed shoulders with well-financed people in recent weeks.
Read more of Guardian Australia’s Tropical Cyclone Alfred coverage: